Each year, on the last Friday of November at 5:30 p.m., the bells of the Fraueenkirche (Church of Our Lady) in Nuremberg peal twice and floodlights reveals the Christ Child flanked by two angels, on the church balcony. It is a tradition, whose origins are long forgotten, that the Christ Child is played by a teenage girl. As a soprano chorus of boys and girls stirs the twilight air with "Silent Night," the Christkindlmarkt (Christ Child Market) is officially opened and will run until Christmas eve.
The oldest and most famous seasonal market in Germany, Nuremberg's Christkindlmarkt has changed little since its beginning some four hundred years ago, when fourteen roads leading into the walled Franconian capital brought traders and craftsmen for the fair. The trades and crafts are still here in the more than 150 booths, each covered with red-and-white-striped awnings and set along the cobblestoned Hauptmarktplatz, the main market square and central core of this medieval town of 500,000. The stands are squeezed together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle from the Frauenkirche on one end of the central market square to the Schoner Brunnen (beautiful fountain) at the other. Banners fly, ornaments swing from street lamps, and angels, gold stars, and elaborate crèches adorn the booths. In the animated atmosphere of the open market, the chill wind is thick with the aroma of charcoal-fired sizzling sausages, roasting chestnut, and burnt-sugar almonds. A popular repast amidst the cool sights and sounds of Christmas is Gluhwein, a heated red wine flavored with sugar, lemon twists, and cardamon and garnished with cinnamon sticks. Other delectables include stolen (yeast bread plumped full of raisins, nuts, and citron), prune dolls (called Zwetschgenmannle in the local dialect), tasty marzipan tidbits, and Lebkuchen, the gingerbread honey figures that are the superspecialty of the Christkindlmarkt.
Lebkuchen: A Historic Tradition
The origins of Lebkuchen predate the market, going back some seven hundred years to a time when the baker and the candlestick maker were frequently one and the same person. Throughout the year, the candlestick maker shaped special candles that were used as offerings to a saint to whom the donor paid tribute. During the Chirstmas season, however, the original carved wooden candle molds were then drafted for the making of honey cakes by the candlestick maker, now turned baker. Today's cookie is a work of art, with raisin eyes, an almond nose, candied-fruit lips, and red, white, and green frosting clothes.
Wrapped in crisp cellophane, these gingerbread lads and lassies hang by red ribbons from the tops and sides of the outdoor booths. Starting with the traditional boy and girl gingerbread dolls, the Lebkuchen run the full range of classic knights in sugar-coated armor, charming princesses in intricate costumes, stars and crescents (with or without white frosting), and hearts dipped in chocolate or painted over with a sugary syrup.
Whatever the secret of their success, Nuremberg's historical gingerbread dolls contain no secret ingredient, although it is definitely the ginger that gives the Lebkuchen their special character. The gingerbread dough for a typical batch consists of two cups of flour, three quarters of a cup of sugar, two eggs, one cup of honey, one teaspoon of baking soda, a half-teaspoon of ginger, and a dash of cinnamon and powdered cloves. The dough is rolled out in a quarter-inch thick layer
...
Read Full Article
|
